This Saturday November 7th 2009 sees the first Gay Business in Ireland conference take place. The conference is jointly hosted by the Irish Gay Business Association (IGBA) and the Institute of Minority Entrepreneurship (IME). Speakers will present topics ranging from recent survey data on gay employers and employees to encouraging diversity and empowering LGBT people in the workplace. There will also be a panel discussion where the question “Segregation or Support – Is there a need for an Irish Gay Business Association” will be open for discussion from the floor. Speakers and panellists include Senator David Norris, Rory O’Neill (a.k.a. Panti, owner of Pantibar and GALA Gay Businessperson of the Year 2009), Etain Kidney, Dr. Tom Cooney (Research Fellow at the Dublin Institute of Technology, President of the European Council for Small Business [ECSB], Adjunct Professor at the Turku School of Economics, Finland, member of two European Commission Expert Groups, and a council member of the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology.) and Dominick Daly (IBM), among others.

For more information on the conference programme, click here. Those who book in advance are entitled to a discounted fee of €10 (Regular cost to attend is €15).

The conference runs from 1pm until 5pm so it’s a neatly packaged afternoon activity.

Links for the Conference:

- Conference Site
- Page on Facebook